Transplantation is a life-saving therapy but is seriously limited by the scarcity of donor organs. In contrast to native tissue and organ transplantation from a non-autologous donor, tissues and organs generated through tissue engineering provide a more abundant alternative source for highly sought after biological materials. Scaffolding plays a pivotal role in the engineering of new tissues and organs. Various tissues have been engineered from highly porous scaffolds prepared from synthetic biodegradable polymers such as poly(glycolic acid), poly(lactic acid), and poly(glycolic acid-co-lactic acid). Alginic acid, a polysaccharide from seaweeds, is a family of natural copolymers of b-D-mannuronic acid and a-L-guluronic acid. Because of their biocompatibility, abundance in source, and low prices, they have been widely used in food industry as thickeners and emulsifying agents. They have also been processed into gel beads encapsulating living cells as an means of immunoprotection. However, alginate is difficult to work with because of its mechanical properties. What is needed is a matrix, readily fashioned into a given shape, having a desired porosity.
In addition, the passage of a fluidic mixture across a porous matrix facilitates the resolution of compounds contained within said mixture. Irregular pore size within a given matrix, however, can impair the separation of compounds of said mixture. What is needed is a matrix, readily fashioned into a given shape, having a desired porosity.